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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

14 11, 2019

DACA Argued Before The U.S. Supreme Court

By |2020-05-01T14:01:47-05:00November 14th, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published November 14, 2019 In 2012, President Obama issued an executive order allowing undocumented foreign nationals who arrived in the U.S. under the age of 16 to be shielded from deportation and issued an employment authorization document.  Eligibility for coverage under the Executive Order – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) depended on a number of factors, including whether the applicant had a serious criminal background and was physically present in the U.S. for the requisite period. DACA has been a huge success, allowing some 700,000 undocumented young immigrants to come out of the shadows, attend universities, assume jobs and otherwise [...]

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22 09, 2019

Deferred Action Comes to an End

By |2020-05-01T14:15:33-05:00September 22nd, 2019|Categories: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published September 22, 2019 In an abrupt, yet not surprising policy decision, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it is putting a halt to a Deferred Action program that has been a part of the immigration law and prosecutorial discretion landscape for more than 4 decades.  The political reasons for this announcement are obvious, but there exists no real practical reason for the program’s termination since it’s been employed so sparingly during its life. What is Deferred Action?   It is a formal statement by the Executive Branch of our government via U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that it will not [...]

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11 07, 2019

DACA’s Future Hangs in the Balance At the U.S. Supreme Court

By |2020-05-01T14:31:00-05:00July 11th, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published July 11, 2019 In recent weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it has accepted several consolidated DACA related cases for consideration and in October will hear arguments about DACA’s future. Obama Giveth, Trump Seeks to Taketh Away: To review, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was instituted in 2012 by way of then President Obama’s Executive Order.  Through the DACA program, individuals who arrived in the U.S. while under the age of 16, completed high school here (or equivalent), are without any serious criminal convictions and met other requirements, became eligible to obtain a version of legal [...]

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19 05, 2019

Making U.S. Immigration Great Again

By |2020-05-01T15:02:45-05:00May 19th, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Asylum in the United States, Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Published May 19, 2019   I started practicing immigration law in the decade that followed the Reagan era’s 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, the last large scale immigration amnesty in the U.S. Through this legislation, roughly 3 million undocumented, but otherwise law abiding, individuals were able to come out of the shadows and officially start their lives as U.S. lawful permanent residents. Eventually, the vast majority eventually went on to become U.S. citizens. Existing statutory avenues toward U.S. residence have allowed for approximately 1 million new permanent residents to the U.S. per year. In addition to these avenues to legal [...]

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3 04, 2019

U.S. Senate Once Again Proposes Path to Legalization for Dreamers

By |2020-05-01T15:39:35-05:00April 3rd, 2019|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

  Published April 3, 2019 The Dream Act of 2019 was recently introduced by U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill, 2 Senate leaders who introduced the same legislation in years past.   If enacted, the Dream Act would make available a path to lawful permanent residence (green card) to certain longtime residents who arrived in the U.S. as children, completed or are completing high school diploma requirements, worked legally for at least three years or served in the military, pass a background check, and demonstrate proficiency in English and U.S. history.  Applicants will be required to pay a filing fee and […]

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28 11, 2018

What is a Conviction for Immigration Purposes?

By |2020-05-01T15:57:50-05:00November 28th, 2018|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), General, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published November 28, 2018   Foreign nationals who are the subject of a criminal arrest or charges must take proper care to make informed decisions when it comes to consideration of plea deals being offered by the prosecuting entity.    That is because convictions for certain crimes may negatively impact the individual’s immigration status in one way or another.   In addition to which crimes may lead to negative immigration consequences, foreign nationals must also pay attention to whether the plea deal leads to a “conviction” for immigration purposes, and regardless of how the criminal court may label it. Foreign nationals who plead […]

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12 07, 2018

US CIS Now More Active in Placing Denied Applicants in Removal Proceedings

By |2020-05-01T16:20:58-05:00July 12th, 2018|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, Conditional Permanent Residence Based on Marriage, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published July 11, 2018     Under a new policy guidance memo released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (US CIS) earlier this month, the agency will now be taking a more active role in initiating removal proceedings against denied applicants.     Applicants for permanent residence, naturalization, change of status or other immigration benefits now will be more vulnerable to being placed in removal proceedings if they are deemed ineligible for the benefit sought and are in the U.S. in violation of immigration laws. Pursuant to the new guidance, US CIS is required to issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) – the […]

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7 05, 2018

Immigration Services That Seem Too Good To Be True

By |2020-05-01T16:40:43-05:00May 7th, 2018|Categories: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, Green Cards, immigration reform, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S., U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Uncategorized, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published May 7, 2018 The Office of the Illinois Attorney General recently filed civil lawsuits against 2 women representing themselves as providers of legitimate immigration services but who, according to the complaints, bilked victims out of thousands of dollars.  According to the lawsuits, the women made false promises to unsuspecting undocumented immigrants who thought they were paying for bona fide services that would lead to the legalization of their immigration status. In the first lawsuit, filed in Cook County, Illinois, the Illinois Attorney General charged Elizabeth Olvera, a volunteer and assistant life coach to members of the Chicago area’s Spanish-speaking community, […]

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15 03, 2018

More DACA Drama

By |2020-05-01T16:54:21-05:00March 15th, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., General, immigration reform, Removal / Deportation Proceedings and Court Hearings, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Published March 15, 2018 The processing of applications for employment authorization documents for hundreds of thousands of young adults under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama era executive initiative, was supposed to come to a halt by now.   But thanks to 2 separate, federal court rulings issued in recent weeks, the program has been given new life, albeit with a most uncertain future. DACA was put into action back in 2012, following Congress’ failure to agree on immigration reform legislation, including a law to establish a path to legalization for our nation’s 11 million undocumented individuals.   The […]

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7 02, 2018

The Forecast Calls For No Government Shut Down and No DACA

By |2018-02-07T12:09:00-06:00February 7th, 2018|Categories: Amnesty for Immigrants in the U.S., Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), General, immigration reform, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation, Undocumented Immigrants and Workers in the U.S.|

Published February 7, 2018   As of Wednesday afternoon, the stars seem to have lined up for our nation to avert a government shutdown.   It appears a bipartisan consensus has been reached so that funding for our government operations can continue for the next two years.  The new budget features major increases in military and domestic spending, including for disaster relief programs for Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.     So far, the consensus is limited to the U.S. Senate.  However, the House of Representatives is also expected to join on, and if so, there is every reason to believe the President […]

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